Otto Westphalen

Otto Westphalen
File:Otto Westphalen.jpg
Born	(1920-03-12)12 March 1920 Hamburg
Died	Hamburg
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1938–45
Rank	Oberleutnant zur See
Unit	21st U-boat Flotilla 13th U-boat Flotilla
Commands held	U-121 (16 May 1942 – 8 February 1943) U-968 (18 March 1943 – 8 May 1945)
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Otto Westphalen (12 March 1920 in Hamburg – 9 January 2008) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Career

Westphalen joined the Kriegsmarine in October 1938, and took part in the invasion of Poland aboard the battleship Schlesien a year later. He then served on the torpedo boat Kondor for six months before joining the U-boat force in October 1940.

He sailed on four patrols as watch officer of U-566 in 1941, and in May 1942 took command of the school boat U-121. In March 1943 he commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-968, and was attached to 13th U-boat Flotilla, based at Trondheim, Norway, for operations against convoys in the Arctic Sea.

Westphalen sailed on seven combat patrols between March 1944 and May 1945, though all his victories were made in February and March 1945; he sank three merchant ships, damaged another, and sank the British sloops HMS Lark and HMS Lapwing. On 29 April 1945 he attacked but missed HMS Goodall which was sunk an hour later by U-286.

In January 1944 Westphalen served on the military court which sentenced Oskar Kusch, the commander of U-154, to death on charges of "defeatism".

Westphalen surrendered in May 1945 in Narvik.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

Ships attacked

Date	Ship	Tons	Nationality	Convoy	Fate
14 February 1945	Horace Gray	7,200	United States	BK-3	Total loss
14 February 1945	Norfjell	8,129	Norway	BK-3	Damaged
17 February 1945	HMS Lark	1,350	Royal Navy	RA-64	Total loss
17 February 1945	Thomas Scott	7,176	United States	RA-64	Sunk
20 March 1945	HMS Lapwing	1,350	Royal Navy	JW-65	Sunk
20 March 1945	Thomas Donaldson	7,210	United States	JW-65	Sunk

Awards

• U-boat War Badge (1939) (8 October 1941)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (8 October 1941)
  • 1st Class (3 April 1944)
• German Cross in Gold on 18 February 1945 as Oberleutnant zur See on U-968/13th U-boat Flotilla
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 23 March 1945 as Oberleutnant zur See and commander of U-968
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 24 March 1945

Wehrmachtbericht reference

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
24 March 1945 (addendum)	Bei dem im Wehrmachtbericht vom 23. März gemeldeten erfolgreichen Angriff auf einen nach Murmansk laufenden Nachschubgeleitzug zeichnete sich die Besatzung des unter Führung von Oberleutnant zur See Westphalen stehenden Unterseebootes besonders aus.	In the 23 March Wehrmacht communique reported successful attack on an replenishment convoy to Murmansk, the submarine crew under the command of First Lieutenant at Sea Westphalen particularly distinguished themselves.

References

Notes

Bibliography